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T O P I C R E V I E W

Howellinone

I recently acquired a model of the Buran and Energia lifting rocket with pedestal and custom made carrying case from my father, a retired airline captain who spent a good deal of time in Russia during the Buran era and in fact was involved in attempting to secure funding for this project. This model was given to my dad in appreciation of his time and efforts.

Frankly I have not seen any thing quite like this. It seems to have been designed as a promotional item and my dad seems to think it was given to possible financiers, investors others as personal gift. It is truly a remarkable piece.

I have not found any indication as to who or where it was made and my dad sadly does not recall, but it is obvious that time and effort where involved not only in its creation but also into its custom made carrying case.

Shuttle measures 10" in length with a wingspan of approx. 7". Energia Length measures 16 1/2" in length. Carrying case measures 20x8x10. If anyone has any thoughts or has seen a similar item I sure would appreciate hearing your comments.

divemaster

What material is it made from? Wood, metal, plastic?

Howellinone

Model is plastic and display case is wood.

divemaster

To the best of my recollection, the only commercially available Buran/Energia combo was in 1/288 scale and is pictured here.

I'm away from home right now and can't get to my reference books, so I can't do any comparisons off of the top of my head.

It's the plastic that's throwing me a bit. Is it solid plastic or hollow?

Mike Dixon

I have one at home (solid wood) that was designed for a display at Sydney Airport and measures about the same as the one mentioned. It's absolutely superb... and should have been given what i paid for it.

Howellinone

Here are some pictures:

divemaster

Oooooooo... that's nice.

Mike Dixon

Remarkable, a beautiful model...

Along with my Franklin Mint LEM, this is the other I'm proud to have...

Howellinone

Thanks for the kind words. It is a great piece Mike, your model looks stunning, and big! When I become a little more proficient at posting pictures I'll post a couple of the details. The Energia rockets are great! Its time for me to do some homework and find out more about it. Thanks for the help!

divemaster

It's just rare to see the Buran/Energia together. I've seen plenty of Burans - it's the combo that's unusual.

Philip

I have some Soviet-era Soyuz scale models and all are very heavy made of metal with plastic solar panels. Looks like the 'new' Russians were using wood for those superb Buran scale models.

Howellinone

Yes! The two together make for a unusual piece, however the Buran does separate from the Energia and can be displayed on its own. So far I am batting zero finding a lot of additional information about this, but I may have some leads as who made it and for whom.

Henk Boshuijer

I found this Buran model recently. It is a model of the Buran shuttle the Speyer Museum has. It is 1:144 scale and is made out of metal and resin.

BrianB

AModel makes a couple of 1/72 versions, including one with the Atlant transport plane.

Jay Chladek

STC Start, the Russian company that did the 1/288 Buran Energia combo kit is as I understand it connected directly with the Energia OKB. As such, I is quite likely that the display model that your dad has was one that was produced in house by them. That being said, I have seen many different Buran display models out there. So the history indeed could be very tough to pin down.

Dirk

I am looking for a paper model of Buran and booster rockets, scale 1/144 or 1/96.